Birding News and Features

Secretary Salazar Releases 2010 State of The Birds Report on Climate Change

On March 11, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released the 2010 State of the Birds Report on Climate Change. Speaking in Austin, Texas, Secretary Salazar stated that “For well over a century, migratory birds have faced stresses such as commercial hunting, loss of forests, the use of DDT and other pesticides, a loss of wetlands and other key habitat, the introduction of invasive species, and other impacts of human development. Now they are facing a new threat – climate change – that could dramatically alter their habitat and food supply and push many species towards extinction.”

The 2010 report, developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the nation's leading conservation organizations, highlights the need for  a number of conservation efforts. These include reducing carbon emissions, protecting key bird habitats, ensuring stable food supplies, and the removal of invasive species that pose a threat to bird populations. 

Klamath Bird Observatory Banding Intern Publishes eBird Research

Thanks to millions of contributions from citizen birders since eBird’s launch in 2002, the eBird database now holds a tremendous amount of information about bird populations around the world. In addition to being used by agencies and scientific organizations to advance bird conservation, eBird data can also be used by people like you and me to learn about birds in our area. By using tools in the “View and Explore Data” feature of eBird, eBirders can truly become citizen scientists, exploring questions related to migration timing, abundance and distribution of birds. The following example demonstrates the power of eBird data for citizen scientists: Karl Fairchild, a 2009 Klamath Bird Observatory banding intern, published a scientific paper in Oregon Birds using eBird data on Orange-crowned Warblers in Oregon.

Join Klamath-Siskiyou eBird at the Winter Wings Festival!

This President’s Day weekend, join thousands of other bird enthusiasts at the 31st annual Winter Wings Festival in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on the shores of Upper Klamath Lake. Sponsored by the Klamath Basin Audubon Society, Winter Wings will feature an array of bird-related activities and educational workshops for all ages.

Audubon Hosts Annual Christmas Bird Count

From December 14 through January 5, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in a citizen science adventure that has become a family tradition among generations-Audubon's annual Christmas Bird Count.

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations - and to help guide conservation action.